Eat This for Performance

SSM Episode #34

Barbara sets the tone for what it means to be a passionate sports mom and advocate for the health and fitness industry. Through her blog, Modern Sports Mom, she has built and inspired a community committed to what she calls the principle of performance as a sports mom: the willingness to make sacrifices in order for children to reach their goals.

In this interview, Barbara modernizes the stereotype of the typical sports parent, and enforces the idea that “Super Sports Mom” can mean something different for everyone. 

She also emphasizes that you don’t need to have a background in sport to be a great sports parent, and it certainly will not come naturally at first. Her advice? Get to know the sport and find a support system. Barbara has worked extremely hard to unite people in sport and build a community who understands the pressure and nerves that one experiences as they watch their child step up to the plate for the first time, and for some, maybe every time after that.

It is important to note that behind every success story, there is a parent. And performance eating is just as important for moms as it is for children. Barbara breaks her eating habits down to one simple notion: eat the way that makes you feel better. Eating for performance can be as simple as that. 

This episode brings an end to the Super Sports Mom season. But stay tuned! The next season will put a whole new spin on what it takes to truly perform at your best when we launch the first season of Do This for Performance!

Barbara says it best: Part of being a team involves team bonding. And what better way to bond then through food? How about performance food? With the brand new ET4P team pre-game meal program, teams can eat for performance together and thus, play better together. Coaches can click here to get the FREE team program for their future Champions. 

Valmie Ouellet has spent a lifetime involved in soccer. Since her tender youth growing up kicking a ball with no shoes on a dirt field with the boys of South Africa Valmie has made sports and the love of soccer her calling. Valmie has been a soccer player, soccer coach, technical director, and a TV analyst for a major sports network here in Quebec. Currently Valmie is the Head Coach for Pierrefonds Soccer Association and oversees all player and coaching development. 

It is people like Valmie whom I admire tremendously because they are trail blazers and road pavers. Were it not for those who have come before us where would we be today? I think about this a lot. 

Girls and women have a tremendous place in sport. But look around you. In just about every sport you will see how easy it is to dismiss females from the game. As you might sense, part of my vision of sport is a vision of equality. I do see a world where a girl is a girl who loves sport and not automatically a tomboy. I do see a world where women sit at the table in a prominent place in professional sport.

There is a reason why the founding name of this podcast is Super Sports Moms - to acknowledge in the best way I know how that women are behind every single great athlete. In this interview we dig into the difference between coaching girls versus boys and the best parenting line I have ever heard. Period. Hint, hint, I tease it in the first seconds of the podcast!

Valmie brings us her many years of wisdom and some insights I will hold dear as I raise my own children to be upstanding active people. Have a listen and if you like what you are hearing please give us a great rating to share these messages with more listeners!

Also want you to know we have your back here at Eat This for Performance are giving you a free sports nutrition "Starter Kit to Eat for Performance" you can grab right from our website. Enjoy!!

SSM Episode #32

How to Carry Yourself Like an Athlete with Courtney King

When Courtney King saw her first hockey game she had only 6 words to say about it… “That’s what I want to do”. Fast forward a few decades and Courtney is now a sought after skating coach for hockey players near and far. She hails from Los Angelos which isn’t necessarily the first place you think of when you think hockey but clearly Wayne Gretzky legacy is in full effect. Her last name, King, is really a great fit (you’ll know why if you are a hockey buff!).

In today’s episode Courtney dives into her story and what led her to be a skating coach, or as she puts it “a skating teacher.” She shares her unique approach to teaching her art using all her skills - a background in dance, theatre and playing the great sport itself!

She dives deep into the elements of how to be a great athlete - those same principles that we are teaching here at ET4P in our online e-learning sports nutrition accelerator program (et4p.com/go for more details). Courtney gave us so many great ideas to chew on, here are just a few:

-Know what your body is actually doing and not what you think it is doing, often 2 different things

-Fuel yourself like a premium race car

-Do not play for approval of others

-Coaches and Parents tell your players “You should be proud of yourself, not I am proud of you”

-And, my favourite, find a way to unlock that superhuman inside of you - you may even need to hear a show-tune

SSM Episode #31

What happens when you are passionate about your sport? You get the story of Neil.

Neil Blunden is a hockey coach, former elite hockey player and in general a hockey passionate person. Neil is an Assistant Coach with the McGill University Hockey Team and has been around the world as the Assistant Coach of the Serbian Men’s National Team, Director of Hockey Operations at HK Partizan – Belgrade, Serbia, Coordinator of Hockey Development at Selwyn House School right here in Westmount, QC, and Hockey Instructor in Zagreb, Croatia.

In this interview Neil teaches us what it takes to play out a hockey career without regrets. He provides us with amazing advice on becoming an elite athlete and what it takes. The #1 recommendation he lives by is to be passionate about your sport and it is more than just loving to play the game. So listen up to the nuances on this one! Neil gives us some insight into how to select a good camp for your athlete, how to be a great coach, and what scouts are actually looking for that is important to acknowledge.

One of the things we know elite coaches are looking for is a deep passion for your sport. If you are struggling to feel excited to do your sport perhaps you are missing something. We’d like you to first look at what you’re eating because it could be as simple as that. If you have great materials fuelling your brain you will be more excited to do everything. The link between what we eat and what we think is strong. But we won’t leave you hanging.

Here at Eat This for Performance we are spending 5 days with you to help you uncover your path to better fuelling for your sport. Better fuelling will help you with your energy levels, your fitness goals, and your mental game - all of these are your Performance Body. Go to et4p.com/challenge to check out the Map Your Performance Body Challenge! 

SSM Episode #30

Dr. Jordan Anderson's article about mental health of athletes on cross-ice hockey website caught our eye and we instantly invited him to our podcast. For anyone in sports we believe that mental health is the most important conversation we should be having. 

Dr Anderson is a family medicine resident at Queen’s University and aspiring sports medicine physician. He grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan, and completed medical school at the University of Saskatchewan. He works mainly with junior hockey and football athletes. He also had the honour of working with the Canadian Medical Team at the University Games in Taipei, Taiwan in 2017. Anderson played every sport growing up and has more recently fallen in love with CrossFit, and in 2019 finished as the 30th ranked MD in the Worldwide Open (1st in Canada!). 

During the interview we delve into his climb to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. He talks about how visualization and meditation helped him get there!

Dr Anderson formed a passion for mental health in medical school where he advocated for student health on a provincial and national level. He received one of the 2018 CFPC Medical Student Leadership Awards for these efforts.  Anxiety and depression can ruin careers and lives. We here at Eat This for Performance support the efforts of parents, athletes, and coaches to get talking about mental health. More discussions = more solutions! In fact we are rolling out some discussions and providing some solutions in more depth in our 5 day challenge to Map Your Performance Body. As we see it, great mental health is needed for a top performance. Go to et4p.com/challenge to learn more. 

SSM Episode #29

Carly Clarke is the head basketball coach of the Ryerson University Rams, and is currently the assistant coach of the Canadian National Basketball team. Carly has come along way from her start in basketball on her high school team in Nova Scotia. In today’s interview she talks about her roots, her biggest influences in her career, and she gives us some important insights into what it takes to make it to the highest level in sport. These 3 things are not to be missed!

Clarke guided the Rams to a record setting season in 2015-16, tying a program-best 16 conference victories before winning the first OUA championship in Ryerson history. The Rams also became the first Ryerson team, in any sport, to appear in a national championship final where they finished with the silver medal. Prior to joining the Rams, Clarke spent three seasons in the head coaching position at UPEI. The Halifax, N.S. native and Level III NCCP certified coach has received both national and international accolades working with Canada Basketball as well as various provincial sport organizations. As head coach of the Canadian U19 Junior Women's National Team, Clarke led the squad to its first ever medal at the World Cup, claiming the bronze medal with a victory over Japan in July of 2017.

As an athlete, Clarke played five seasons with Bishops University where she guided the Gaiters to a QSSF championship and fifth-place finish at the CIS Final 8 in 2004. The former Academic All-Canadian completed a Bachelor of Science in Biology, and earned a Master's in Business Administration from Dalhousie University while helping to coach the Tigers to a fourth-place finish at the CIS Final 8 in 2007. 

A great coach can change the course of not just your athletic career but your life. And as Carly says her best coaches challenged her. This is why we are challenging you to join the 5 day Map Your Performance Body online experience.  Whatever your performance goal is in sport, your body is going to take you there. How much better can your performance be when you map out a plan to have your best body? Let’s find out! Go to https://et4p.com/challenge to sign up for our Map Your Performance Body challenge! 

SSM Episode #28

Never let other people tell you what you will be good at. One time Jorie was told she would never make a great sports dietitian and today she is one of the best that I know. 

Jorie received her undergraduate degree at the University of Manitoba and furthered her education with the prestigious 2 year International Olympic Committee (IOC) Diploma in Sport Nutrition. Jorie is Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD) and has been ISAK Level 1 Certified. Jorie has participated in Molly Kellogg’s Counselling Intensive Course for Dietitians and is a Certified Life/Executive Coach.

Jorie has been working and mentoring in the field for over 15 years in the areas of nutrition for sport performance, disordered eating and eating disorders, and in corporate health and wellness.  She works for the Canadian Sport Centre Manitoba as the Director of Sport Dietetics and maintains a private consulting business. She was past president of the Sport Medicine and Science Council of Manitoba, co-chair of the Dietitians of Canada Sport Nutrition Network, and founder and chair of the Manitoba Sport Nutrition Network Inc. 

Jorie has gained extensive experience working with provincial, national and Olympic/Paralympic level athletes. Jorie has worked with the NHL, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Faculty of Family Medicine, Legacy and Pan Am Sport Medicine Fellowships, and has previously been a sessional instructor at both The University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg. You can find Jorie at http://joriejanzen.ca/.

In this episode of the Super Sports Moms podcast, we tackle nutrition in sport from an interesting perspective with Jorie. Together, we delve into what it means to have a performance body and how we can all be supporting athletes better in this area. 

As we get closer to launching our performance body challenge we invite you to sign up so you receive all of the 5 instructional videos that will be delivered to your inbox starting the week of May 26th. Go to et4p.com/challenge.

SSM Episode #27

In this episode of the Super Sports Moms podcast, we dive into leadership, community and tracking devices with head university basketball coach Len Harvey. 

Len's own story is a supreme example of how to raise a leader. Listen closely to the path he took to get to his position and the way he continues to work towards leadership excellence and you will uncover some of the secrets to raising a leader.

Harvey just finished his fourth season as the head coach of the Acadia Axewoman Basketball program. He has helped guide the team to the AUS playoffs all 4 seasons of his tenure, U Sports National #1 ranking, and back to back AUS Championships. Harvey was named the Carolyn Savoy Memorial Award Winner for 2018 as the AUS Coach of the Year. 

Harvey graduated from Acadia University in 2003 with a B.A, and completed his B.Ed. from C.B.U. in 2004. He went on to become a secondary school teacher for 8 years prior to becoming a full-time university head coach. 

A native of Baddeck, N.S., Harvey is more than familiar with Nova Scotia basketball and Atlantic University Sport, and has an array of coaching experience at the provincial and university level.

For Len, loving the game is one of the biggest things he looks for in his players. In this episode, Len gives his insight into the big question of what makes a great leader, and how your up-bringing can impact your leadership qualities. Listen up, and take Lens advice to leave a place better than you found it! 

In this interview we also discussed the big topic of tracking devices in sport and how they can impact your performance. Kicking off May 26th, we are diving into this topic further talking about what you should be tracking to get to your performance body. Go to https://et4p.com/challenge to sign up for our Map Your Performance Body challenge! 

SSM Episode 26

She texted me at 7:22 in the morning.

Margot - "Hi Pearle! Omg what a weekend! Elise's team won the Dodge Cup :). Elise stood on her head in the finals and was awarded player of the game. She was in tears because it is her last year in youth hockey. A great way to finish! I'm exhausted - I feel like I played all weekend!

SSM Episode 25

This episode dives back into the topic of body composition in sport that we started a few weeks ago. Some might say it is a touchy topic but as you will learn from Jason today, there is a lot of benefit to speaking up and sharing wisdom!

Coach Jason McCullagh is the Director of Athlete Performance at Conker Fitness and Founder/Co Owner of Mettle Sports Training . Coach McCullagh has been working with young athletes since he built the Strength and Conditioning Program for the Maverick Volleyball Club in Ottawa in 2005 and subsequently launched the brand Mettle Sports Training to support volleyball athletes more broadly.  While his focus was Volleyball athletes for many years, he also works with Soccer, Baseball and Hockey athletes on a regular basis. His approach is very much keeping things simple where every exercise has a reason to be there, no ‘fluff’. Coach McCullagh’s focus on building long term relationships and development strategies with athletes and their parents will improve performance, reduce injury potential and educate athletes at every touch point.

In this interview we get into some specific details about training and body composition for the teen athlete, we tackle the goal of training and how it relates to the athlete’s physique. We also get introduced to Jason’s philosophy on testing body composition and I have to say it is refreshing. As a former collegiate athlete who was body fat tested regularly I wish I had more of Jason’s approach. 

A confidence in body composition can support a confidence in an athlete on and off the field of play or the ice rink. To support our athletes this spring we are offering a 5 day coaching experience to map out their performance body. This does mean addressing the big discussion about body composition but I think you will find our approach and our philosophy to be a game changer. Go to https://et4p.com/challenge to sign up for our Map Your Performance Body challenge kicking off the beginning of May.